San Antonio barber gets international attention for unbelievable designs

By Kolten Parker |
July 9, 2014
| Updated: January 22, 2015 10:33am

Rob Ferrel shaved a portrait of Kim Kardashian into this customer's head.

Photo By Instagram

Rob Ferrel shaved a portrait of The Joker into this customer's head.

Photo By Instagram

Rob Ferrel shaved a portrait of Nelson Mandela into this customer's head.

Photo By Instagram

Rob Ferrel shaved a portrait of Ellen Degeneres into this customer's head.

Photo By Instagram

Rob Ferrel shaved a portrait of Iron Man into this customer's head.

Photo By Instagram

Rob Ferrel shaved a portrait of Martin Luther King Jr. into this customer's head.

Photo By courtesy, Rob the Original

Roberto Farrel, known as Rob the Original, creates life-like portraits in customers hair in his San Antonio barber shop.

Photo By Courtesy Photo

A Johnny Manziel haircut on the head of Christian Chavez, done by Rob "The Original" Ferrel.

SAN ANTONIO - A San Antonio barber is making international headlines with his unique designs and life-like portraits of celebrities, athletes and family members in customers' hair.

Roberto Ferrel, known as Rob the Original, has been interviewed by numerous news outlets around the world for his portraits, including many San Antonio Spurs favorites, World Cup athletes and even superheroes like Spiderman.

"I wanted to stand out and do something different," said Ferrel, who has lived in the Alamo City for eight years.

The hairstyle depictions usually take about two hours to complete and Ferrel uses one hand to hold a digital photo on a phone or iPad and the other to style the design, carving an outline with a trimmer and then shaving it with a razor.

The designs even include color, which he creates with eye and lip liner. The hair designs last about two weeks he said. Basic haircuts start at $20 and more intricate styles and portraits run between $150 and $200, he said.

"I started cutting my own hair about 10 years ago to save money," Ferrel said.

Family members and friends began asking Ferrel, who has been an artist since a young age, for hair cuts and eventually he began charging for them.

Ferrel has garnered a large social media following on the photo sharing app Instagram and frequently shares photos of his hairstyle art work with his more than 70,000 followers.

He has been interviewed by Spanish-language network Univision, Reuters and other outlets around the world for his recent World Cup portraits.

Ferrel's shop, Rob the Original's Barbershop (or ROBS), is located on the Southside at Pica Pica Plaza at 910 SE Military Drive and he said he plans to open another on the Northwest side later this year.